1. Marine Environmental Data & PSI Digital Data Assembly, Brussels 16.6.2011 Stephen Hodgson, Environmental Lawyer

2. Marine environmental data 1.Large quantities of data relating to the marine environment are collected and stored all over Europe for a wide range of purpose and by a wide range of public and private entities 2.Importance -In terms of the EUs Integrated Maritime Policy -In order to achieve good environmental status of marine waters in accordance with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive 3.Marine environmental data - data based on observation of the seas and oceans and includes -hydrography (bathymetry, coastline) -geology (sediments, geological substrate, geological hazards such as earthquakes, coastal erosion) -physical oceanography (temperatures, salinity, tides, currents) -biology (anything living from plankton to whales - abundance and diversity) -fisheries (catch, effort, capacity, discards etc) -habitats (an environment defined in which a species lives at any stage of its biological cycle) -chemistry (pollution,. nutrients, sewage etc) -human activity (oil rigs, gravel extraction, shipping) 4.Geo-spatial in nature

4. Study: legal aspects of marine environmental data Undertaken by the MRAG Consortium for DG MARE in 2008 http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/study_lamed_en.html Study tasks included – A review of relevant EU & international law – Analysis of national legislation in 6 countries European countries (Bulgaria, France, Greece, Norway, Poland, Spain & UK) to evaluate implementation of obligations under EU law regarding access to and use of marine environmental data and to examine the practical effectiveness of the legislation based on the data collection exercise – A data collection exercise whereby a representative sample of marine environmental data types was gathered from organisations in the 6 countries and international organisations in Europe.

5. Findings A. Data collection exercise -Two stage approach: (a) information gathering (eg identify data centres, data holdings, data policies) and (b) obtain data samples -Significant variations as regards: existence of data policies, how easy it was to obtain data B. Review of national legislation – Questions on PSI Directive (scope of national PSI regimes, rules on charging for re-use of environmental data, use of standard licences for re-use of PSI, interaction between access to environmental data and re-use of PSI) – Legislation on access to environmental legislation – Findings No significant problems as regards implementation In terms of PSI Directive - Some countries made no provision for reasonable return, variations in standard licence progress Generally no problems as regards access but the issue of re-use is more difficult…

6. C. Review of EU and international law Two distinct bodies of law: 1.Apart from the PSI Directive 2003/98/EC a number of legal instruments intended to facilitate access to environmental information and/or its reuse including the Arhus Convention, Environmental Information Directive 2003/43/EC, INSPIRE Directive 2007/2/EC … 2.…intellectual property (IP) law in particular copyright and database rights -Data ownership -Use of data made subject to licences or data policies containing licence terms Zooplankton diversity data (species identification and counts): Stonehaven/Loch Ewe Ecosystem Monitoring: Zooplankton (species abundance data: July 2006). Crown copyright used with the permission of Fisheries Research Services Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen.

7. Conclusions Env. Info. Directive and Arhus Convention – require access but not re-use (and does not apply to all data centres) The PSI Directive does not require the Member States to allow re-use of PSI is subject to a number of important exceptions eg 3 rd party IPR, education & research establishments The INSPIRE Directive does not alter the basic position The issue of the re-use of marine environmental data remains subject to the individual data policies of individual data centres which in turn have received differing messages including as regards the issue of use/re-use

8. Thank you